MADRID, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Former Real Madrid and Sevilla midfielder Isco has explained the details of his departure under a cloud from Sevilla midway through last season.
The 31-year-old, who is currently a free agent, tore up his contract with Sevilla after a huge falling out with former sporting director Monchi.
In an interview with Spanish sports paper Marca, Isco explained that things started to go wrong after Julen Lopetegui was sacked as Sevilla coach in October 2022 and replaced by Jorge Sampaoli.
"When Lopetegui leaves and the winter transfer market approaches, I see many strange things within the club. To begin with, they called my representative to find a way out for me, without previously discussing anything with me, so as soon as I found out I went to speak directly with Monchi," explained Isco.
"I don't know what kind of economic crisis Sevilla were in, but after that conversation everything went wrong. I just wanted to know the thoughts of the club and he told me that if I found something that I would leave. After that conversation, Monchi began to say that I wanted to leave, something that was not true, and he began to call both me and my lawyer every day, harassing us to end my contract.
"I went to talk to him again and told him, 'Look Monchi, you are not being honest with me or with the people you tell things to. I want to stay and you keep saying that I want to go.' And then there was a bit of conflict.
"I told him that he was the biggest liar I had ever met in the world of football and he attacked me. He came towards me, he grabbed me by the neck, we moved apart and they had to separate us completely. As you will understand, after that, I did not want to continue there under any circumstances," said the player.
Monchi has since left Sevilla and is now at Aston Villa, where he is working with former Sevilla and Valencia coach Unai Emery. ■
